


pretty lights on a tree, I've been watching them shine

by RainbowRandomness



Series: Leading Up To Christmas... [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Challenge Response, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 18:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17085458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowRandomness/pseuds/RainbowRandomness
Summary: “Hank, we don’t have to have a tree.”“Course we do,” Hank says, rummaging around in the garage for the boxes of decorations and the forgotten Christmas tree, “that’s what Christmas is about, Connor, having a bloody tree in the house to jazz up with baubles and lights ‘n’ shit.”Connor cocks his head to the side, face impassive.“A ‘bloody tree’, Hank? Blood doesn’t seem to be a very festive decorative choice.”





	pretty lights on a tree, I've been watching them shine

**Author's Note:**

> part of the [Leading Up To Christmas...](/) challenge on dreamwidth; _20th -- > decorating the tree_
> 
> technically already wrote about decorating the tree for the drabble-a-thon but this is for my challenge thingy so fuck it, have another tree decorating fic aye 
> 
> ngl this is a bit rushed cause I've been at work n shit but I'm determined to take part in my own challenge so !! have some cruddy Christmas fic and expect more to come
> 
> Title from _Baby Please Come Home_ by Marianas Trench

It’d been a while since Hank had put up the Christmas tree. Christmas had come far too soon after Cole’s death and Hank had felt too bitter, too angry, too numb to even spare a thought for putting up the tree. It had been too soon, he had felt too raw, and so the tree and the decorations had stayed packed away, hidden from view, and Hank had spent that festive season drinking to forget.

And so that new found tradition had continued into the next year, and the year after that. What was the point of a tree when it was just him and Sumo? He didn’t care if there was a tree in the house or not, and if anything it only reminded him of what he had lost. Sumo certainly didn’t care either, and so the tree was left untouched, forgotten in the garage amongst the boxes never unpacked from the move, amongst the other junk that Hank hadn’t had time to throw away.

And there it would have stayed, if it weren’t for a certain android entering his life.

“Hank, we don’t have to have a tree.”

“Course we do,” Hank says, rummaging around in the garage for the boxes of decorations and the forgotten Christmas tree, “that’s what Christmas is about, Connor, having a bloody tree in the house to jazz up with baubles and lights ‘n’ shit.”

Connor cocks his head to the side, face impassive.

“A ‘bloody tree’, Hank? Blood doesn’t seem to be a very festive decorative choice.”

Hank pauses briefly in his movements to look back and glare in Connor’s direction where he’s stood in the doorway to the garage. Connor’s expression doesn’t change but his LED blinks yellow once before returning to blue, and Hank has known his partner long enough by now to know that that means he’s holding in how proud he is of that particular joke.

“Har har,” he says and turns back round to grab for the box of decorations, “you’re hilarious Connor, truly. You should give up working for the DPD and take up comedy.”

He turns round again to hand the box over to Connor, who steps closer to take hold of the offered container. He waits patiently by Hank’s side as Hank digs up another box and slings it under his arm before he grabs the box containing the tree and straightens up with only a mild groan.

“Really need to sort this place out,” Hank grumbles to himself, shoving another box aside with his foot on the way to the door. Connor only hums behind him in response.  

They make their way back into the living room and set the boxes down on the floor. Hank sits himself down on the sofa and pulls the tree box towards him, opening the flaps at the top to peer inside. Connor seats himself on the floor by the coffee table, opting instead to open one of the two decoration boxes and begin pulling out the decorations inside.

“Pretty sure all the parts are here…” Hank murmurs to himself, taking out the tree stand and one of the core tree structures, the fake branches folded up neatly to point towards the base. He sets each piece beside him on the couch, counting them as he does so to ensure they’re all there. Once he’s sure he’s got all the parts he needs, he sets the box aside and grabs for the tree stand, unhooking it from itself so that all four legs protrude out into an X formation.

Silence washes over them as they work, Hank putting together the beginnings of the tree and Connor methodically taking out each decoration and laying them atop the coffee table. There’s an assortment of tinsel and baubles, and a tangled cluster of fairylights. Connor pulls the tangled mess into his lap and begins working on them, his deft fingers making quick work of the knots and fastenings.

Eventually, after Hank’s got the tree standing in the corner of the room between the TV and his record player, the branches all unfurled and splayed out, Connor pipes up from his position on the floor.

“Did you ever have a real Christmas tree to decorate? One you chopped down yourself, or bought fresh?”

Hank considers the question, his eyes raking over the tree to ensure it won’t collapse on him before he looks down towards where Connor is sitting, already turned to face him and looking up at him with questioning brown eyes. The cluster of fairylights are still sat in his lap, his fingers working away at untangling the wires.

“Yeah,” he says, watching Connor’s fingers work at untangling the mess in his lap, “a few times when I was growing up. A few times with Cole. After the divorce…”

He pauses, eyes becoming unfocused for a moment as he thinks back. His then wife had been quite a stickler for tradition and had insisted on buying a real tree every year, even though Hank hated the maintenance and clean up that came with having a real tree in your home. He had done it though, for her sake and for Cole’s; it had been fun watching them decorate the tree together, and he loved lifting Cole up into the air so he could place the star at the top of the tree.

Blinking to clear his vision, Hank shakes his head, bringing himself back to the present before he can become lost in the past. “When I moved here I didn’t see the point of getting a real tree. I bought this fake one and Cole never minded, s’long as he got to put the star on top.”

Connor hums, eyes having returned to the fairylights in his lap. He untangles the last knot and offers the cord to Hank so that can begin wrapping the lights around the tree. As Hank does this, Connor moves to stand and begins to collect an assortment of tinsel and baubles in his arms, cradling them in the crook of his elbow and holding a few from his fingers by their strings.

They work mostly in silence, the sound of a slow Christmas song playing from Hank’s laptop propped up on the coffee table. Hank wraps the tinsel round the tree, intertwining it with the lights, and Connor finds a methodical way to hang the baubles and other various decorations from the branches so that each side is perfectly covered and everything is spaced evenly.

“It’s looking good,” Hank says once they step back to admire their work. He’s plugged the lights in and switched them on, and from between the branches the colours glow and fade in and out of existence, blues, reds, yellows, and greens, all appearing and disappearing before his eyes. The colours glint off the baubles, shine off the tinsel; the light reflects and bounces to paint the walls around the tree in shards of rainbows, a colourful and unintentional light show that even attracts Sumo over to come and take a look.

“Are we missing anything?” Connor asks, looking the tree up and down. Hank can see the light of his LED spin round to yellow as he seems to think, and eventually he finds his answer. “Isn’t there meant to be something on top?”

Hank looks up towards the bare branch at the top of the tree. “Not always,” he says, though he moves to kneel down and riffle through the boxes again until he finds the long forgotten golden star. It’s hidden away beneath a layer of unused tinsel, nested within the shining silver material. He stares at it for a moment, memories of Cole placing the star at the top of the tree pushing to the forefront of his mid. When he lifts it from the box it’s heavier than he remembers, and he stands with a grunt, holding the spiral base in his hand.

He turns to Connor, who is already facing him, LED spinning blue.

“Wanna do the honours?”

The LED blinks yellow once; Connor blinks, eyes glancing down towards the star held in Hank’s outstretched hand before returning to Hank’s own gaze.

“Are you sure?”

Hank smiles. “I’m sure Cole wouldn’t mind it if you took over his tree topping duties.”

Connor seems to still, LED blinking blue and gold before settling on blue again, a smile overtaking his face when it does. A warmth blossoms in Hank’s chest when Connor smiles at him, and he watches Connor as he takes the star from Hank’s hand and turns to face the tree, stretching himself up until he can place the star atop the final branch.

When Connor leans back down, rocking only slightly on the balls of his feet, Hank is at his side, his arm already moving to curl around Connor’s middle. Connor wastes no time in leaning back into Hank’s hold, his own arms moving to rest atop Hank’s where it circles around Connor’s waist and holds on. A contented sigh leaves Connor’s lips and they both look over the tree, admiring it in its full and finished glory.

“Looks pretty good I’d say,” Hank comments after a moment of watching the lights blink in and out of view, “Not bad for your first tree, huh?”

Connor looks it over again and then smiles to himself. Hank feels him relax into him, settling back against his chest.

It’s quiet for a few moments as they watch the lights change on the tree, another slow Christmas song playing from the laptops speakers. Eventually Connor shifts in Hank’s grip enough to look up at him, his hand coming up to cup Hank’s cheek.

“Hey Hank?”

He glances down towards his partner, finding Connor’s doe brown eyes already looking up at him. Connor smiles, soft and sweet, crows feet appearing in the corner of his eyes. He strokes his thumb through Hank’s beard absentmindedly and Hank shivers at the gentle touch.

“Merry Christmas.”

Hank snorts but smiles anyway. He presses a kiss against Connor’s temple and squeezes him tighter, fingers flexing against Connor’s side.

“Merry Christmas Connor.”

**Author's Note:**

> come follow me on [tumblr](http://rainbow-randomness.tumblr.com/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/RainbowRandoms) | [dreamwidth](https://rainbowrandomness.dreamwidth.org/)
> 
> I do not give permission to have any of my works put up on goodreads or any other such site.


End file.
